Whether you fly every week for work or a few times a year for vacation, air travel can be anxiety-inducing. Not only do you have to make sure your bag is checked properly, but also get your boarding pass, go through security and get to your gate.
If you’re reading this, then you might also be that person who always feels the need to “check” your gate when you get to the airport ― a non-clinical phenomenon we’re dubbing “gatexiety.” Even if the number is explicitly written on your boarding pass or in your airline’s app, you just have to see it with your own eyes before you can do anything else — use the bathroom, purchase a last-minute magazine, or grab a quick snack from the food court.
Sound familiar? We spoke with experts to figure out why you feel the strong urge to find your gate and what you can do if this habit is stressing you out:
Why do you feel the urge to find the gate as soon as you get to the airport?
At the most basic level, you probably check the gate at the airport when you arrive to help ease your anxiety.
Jennifer Kelman, a licensed clinical social worker, said some people “develop rituals to ward off nervous energy anxiety.”
“We also experience a loss of control while flying, and checking the gate, checking a boarding pass, making sure you have all of your travel documents are in order may provide a feeling of control while traveling,” Kelman added.
Others may check the gate because they want to gauge how much time they have to use the bathroom and get snacks while accounting for walk time. For all you know, your gate could be at the opposite end of the terminal, and that could leave you running to catch your flight if you decide to grab a last-minute cup of coffee.
TikTokers Joe and Brent Philips perfectly summed this up in a recent viral video. The couple said they almost missed their flight because they didn’t check their gate before boarding.
“And that is why you check to make sure the gate exists every time,” the pair joked at the end of the video. The post got more than 1 million views and hundreds of comments.
According to Kelman, looking for your gate isn’t necessarily an unhealthy thing. However, if it becomes more of a compulsion, then it might be important to look a bit deeper to see how anxiety might be affecting your life.
“It’s normal to feel some anxiety about a process you’re not completely comfortable with, as long as you can still get to where you’re going without too much freak-out,” said Bonnie Scott, therapist and founder of Mindful Kindness Counseling.
Are there people who don’t check the gate with their own eyes?
Although it might seem unfathomable to the anxious traveler, some more seasoned passengers don’t find it helpful or useful to check the gate at the airport.
“I personally do not check the gate itself,” said Ray Kanevsky, co-founder and CEO of travel agency Two Travel.
“Since most boarding passes don’t have the gate number, the first thing I do is check what gate number I am on the big screen and then what lounge is closest to that gate,″ he added.
Nearly every airport has screens indicating each flight’s time of departure and gate number. These are the most up-to-date information. “People should probably check when they arrive at the airport and once they are through security,” Scott said.
“Check the big screen and get to your gate five to 10 minutes after the official boarding time on your boarding pass and you can steer clear from any stress and anxiety,” Kanevsky said.
Additionally, you can use your airline’s mobile app to check in, check your flight’s status and see the gate number.
Scott recommended planning to check for changes to flight plans at regular intervals, but it’s important to put a limit on it. For example, you can tell yourself, “I’ll check every 30 minutes but not more than twice before I board,” she explained.
At the end of the day, if checking the gate when you get past security helps ease your anxiety, then do it. If signing up for text notifications helps take the edge off, then do that. The most important thing is that you get where you need to be as safely and efficiently as possible.